Napoleon’s Defeat in Russia – 200 Years

By Cheryl Rofer, on November 25th, 2012

They didn’t have nuclear weapons in 2012, or aircraft. A ground invasion by Napoleon’s Grande Armée was the equivalent. Russia survived it, and Napoleon was nuked by long supply lines and the Russian winter. That was 200 years ago this year.

The last of the Grande Armée straggled out of Russia on December 14, according to Wikipedia. The Battle of Borodino was in September.

The Russian commemorations seem to have been little reported elsewhere. Here’s a selection from Google:

I’m wondering why we haven’t heard more from Russia. The ill-fated Tsar Nicholas led the centennial celebrations in 1912, and of course it was an earlier Tsar’s army who beat Napoleon in 1812, so perhaps the desire to minimize that governance in Russia’s history might have been part of it. The Russians are also extremely sensitive about land invasions, precisely because of Napoleon for one, and might not have wanted to play it up.

Although Napoleon and the Grande Armée eventually had to retreat ignominiously from Russia, they had something of a victory at Borodino and went on to burn Moscow. But their supply lines were too long, they had taken many casualties at Borodino, and winter set in. Like many military operations, the victories were ambiguous.

Tchaikowsky wrote the 1812 Overture to commemorate the event. Here’s the London Symphony, with appropriate works of art.

For those who like the ending with cannons, just the ending, from where the Russian national anthem overcomes the French.